(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement to a through anchor suitable for use in a seat belt system, said through anchor defining therethrough a slot for deflecting an associated webbing so as to guide the webbing to a predetermined position.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Seat belt systems for safely holding an occupant or the like in a seat of a vehicle include 3-point seat belt systems which makes use of a continuous webbing.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5 which is a schematic illustration of a structure for mounting a through anchor of a seat belt system on a vehicle body, an end portion of a webbing 10 is secured in a retractor 25 arranged in a rear part of a door interior, and an opposite end portion of the webbing extends through a through anchor 17 mounted on a rear end portion of a door sash 11 and then through a through tongue plate 31 latched in an emergency release buckle (not shown) provided upright at a substantially central part of the vehicle body and is fastened to an anchor plate 29 disposed in a lower part of the door interior. Accordingly, when the door is opened, the webbing 10 is wound out from the retractor 25 and extends between the through tongue plate 31 and the anchor plate 29 and also between the through tongue plate 31 and the through anchor 17, so that the webbing 10 is pulled away from a seat 27 to permit entrance or egress of an occupant. When the door is closed on the other hand, the webbing 10 is wound into the retractor 25 so that the upper torso of the occupant in the seat 27 is automatically restrained by the webbing 10.
The through anchor 17 mounted on the rear end portion of the door sash 11 is also provided to optimize the holding of the right shoulder of the occupant by the shoulder webbing. The direction of the webbing 10 is changed at the slot of the through anchor 17.
As depicted in FIG. 4 by way of example, the through anchor 17 is composed of a support plate is, which is pivotally supported by a rivet 32 on a fixing member 20 provided on the rear end portion of the door sash 11, and a through ring 19 having a slot through which the webbing extends.
Since the through anchor 17 is pivotally supported by the rivet 32 as described above, there is the potential danger that a head portion of the rivet projects out from the surface of the support member and the occupant may hooked and injured by the projecting head portion.
To eliminate the above potential danger, the support plate 18 is enclosed in a resin cover 21 shown in FIG. 4. The resin cover 21 is molded as a unitary member with a synthetic resin and includes a first portion 22 covering one side of the support plate 18 and a second portion 23 extending over the other side of the support plate 18. The first portion 22 and the second portion 23 are connected together via a hinge portion 33. The first portion 22 has lugs 36,36, while the second portion 23 defines recesses 37,37 engageable with the corresponding lugs 36,36. Each of the first and second portions 22,23 also has a hook 34 engageable with a corresponding detent 35 of the support plate 18 and recesses 24,24 for receiving the through ring -9 therein. These recesses 37,37, lugs 36,36, hooks 34,34, and recesses 24,24,24,24 are all formed at the same time as the resin cover 21 is molded. Either one of the first and second portions 22,23 of the resin cover 21 is inserted through the through ring 19 and the lugs 36,36 are brought into engagement with the corresponding recesses 37,37. As a result, the resin cover 21 can cover both the sides of the support plate 18. The resin cover 21 can therefore avoid the potential danger that an occupant may contact a projecting or recessed part such as a pivot portion of the support plate 18 or the rivet 32 and could be injured by such a projecting or recessed part.
However, enclosure of a support member for a through anchor within a resin cover such as that described above involves the problems that the overall thickness of the support member increases to result in protrusion of the resin cover into the room of the vehicle, thereby impairing the appearance and the efficiency of assembly work of the seat belt is reduced due to the need for the additional step for mounting the resin cover.